The Blood Moon
by FifteenBadgers
Summary: The Blood Moon called and Taylor answered. Given the path to power and amassing followers, Taylor knows that in the face of a PRT who are incapable, or unwilling, of fixing the problems in Brockton Bay Taylor is left with only one path; force the criminals of the city to follow her or have their wills subsumed into the Blood Moon.


[So, firstly: I am not dropping Paper and Sand - currently Burn Note and Evil Atlas are checking over the next chapter for it, and the one after that already has 500 words of it written.

That being said, if I am honest I do find Paper and Sand difficult to write - I feel like it has run away from me a bit and, in hindsight, it is an ambitious topic to start with. So, to make sure I don't do what I did before and get out of the habit of writing completely, this will be my side project. I have no idea when it will be updating, but I will plonk away at it when I can.]

The Blood Moon Details:  
This is an altpower crossover with League of Legends where Taylor has gained the power of the Blood Moon. She can make masks which give their wearers powers or enhance existing powers.  
She can also switch between any masks she has made for herself too. You'll see as we go along how that unfolds, but in the interest of not having massive amounts of bloat I have chosen only nine (excluding Twisted Fate, which is Taylor's mask and the one she uses to make more masks) of the champions to have masks that Taylor can make. I felt that this gave me a decent range to work with and add enough variation. This first chapter is set a few months after the actual story start; hopefully you will enjoy seeing how the Blood Moon came into power.  
I also don't have any editors for this, so please excuse any mistakes (as Evil Atlas and Burn Note have really spoiled me).

AU Note: There is a slight AU aspect to this - Taylor, Sophia and Emma and all of the Undersiders are now 18 or 19. Wards are wards until 21 in this, to avoid messing up the story too much. I will not, in any way, be writing scenes that are explicit or really even implicit but, due to the nature of the Evelynn mask (i.e a literal succubus), there are obviously going to be certain overtones. The reason for this age change is because I have seen multiple, good stories taken down by the mods because the comments in the thread got way out of hand and weird about shipping characters who were under 18, so this is basically to cover my own ass and make sure its above board for everyone.

Finally, thank you for reading!

* * *

A card lay on her desk, black, with a blood red moon rising painted on.

It sat there unnoticed at first as she went about unpacking, backpack thrown by the bed, PRT phone tossed next to it.

She had even managed to change into her pyjamas, a loose t-shirt pulled over her head, before she caught sight of it. Her desk was normally cluttered, school books mixed in with maps of the city and sheets of information the local villains, each with careful handwritten notes spread around the margins.

A small gap had been made for the card, in the centre, where it lay shining, lit by the last wisps of the sun's light.

She licked dry lips.

The windows were locked, as they always were in this part of the city, and her family would've mentioned if any 'friends' had visited. She knew it wouldn't be a prank, regardless.

You didn't use that symbol unless you were already a member, or hoping to be.

A faint memory of a news report from a few months ago passed through her mind; two gangers had ended up dead after spraying up a false tag as a trap. CCTV footage had shown them run headfirst off the top of a nearby building, arms outstretched before them.

She pulled a bolt out from underneath her bed, and gingerly used it to flip the card over. The new side was white, on it a neatly printed date.  
Sophia slumped backwards onto her bed, still staring.

She knew what it was.

A few pictures had floated around PHO, whispers of recruitment, of normals gaining powers.

Which begged the question; _did_ they know who she was? A civilian recruitment offer wasn't impossible.

Sophia knew her mother paid the protection racket somehow, although it wasn't through money. The Blood Moon were…fair. And crime had dropped completely in their territory after they made it obvious what would happen to any criminals caught.

Sophia had seen a few men and women missing fingers, or even whole hands. She had also seen the Blood Moon tattooed onto her neighbour's back walking down the stairs a week ago, on their way back from the laundry room, the same neighbour who a month previous was stuck in a wheelchair.

"Fuck," she muttered.

One thing the rumours had agreed on was that she only needed to touch the card near the time printed and she would be teleported to the Blood Moon, to meet Nogaku or one of her lieutenants. Ninko, who seduced people and stole their bodies. Akashita, the demon in the black cloud. Okuri, and her Komainu dogs. Dodomeki, the hundred-eyed thief. Piggot had been very clear to the Wards when she briefed them about the Blood Moon. They were all to stay away, and avoid all contact, as the entire gang was considered an M/S threat.

But…she knew the locals, as much as she disliked most of them. It was stupid not to, they knew the area, where the dangerous streets were, when not to go to a certain shop. They had been a useful resource when she was solo. Most of them agreed, the Blood Moon _were_ fair. If Sophia went, and said no, they would abide by that decision. There wouldn't be any repercussions.

She stood and paced, the energy running through her demanding her to move. Bringing it to the PRT wasn't an option. Firstly, and most importantly to Sophia, fuck them. Secondly, it would probably end up with somebody dead with nothing to show for it.

She didn't want any of the Protectorate dead; some of them were decent capes. Hell, she didn't want any of the PRT troopers dying either. Anyone brave enough to stand up to capes with only foam and body armour was worth keeping around in her eyes.

Then there was the third problem. The date was tonight, in less than half an hour.  
Which was the problem, because while Sophia was seen as willing to rush in head first that was only _after _she had gathered information first. But she supposed that was the point; there was no time. If she at least knew if they were aware of her identity…

"Fucking waste of time," she said, shaking her head. "You don't know and you won't till you go."

She turned towards the card, purposely putting the crossbow hidden under the bed out of her mind.

"Fuck it."

Her hand shot out, grabbing the card, and she heard the sound of a deep gong ringing out, underpin by the ruffling of cards. A snap, as her vision when black, only for it to open again to a dark warehouse.

"Hello, Sophia."

She spun on the spot, heart racing.

A circle of the warehouse was lit by a single spotlight, within which was a dark wooden desk.

Nogaku sat at it, hands neatly entwined, and before her lay a mask.

Sophia's eyes were drawn to the mask first. It was disturbingly appealing. Sharp curves, outlined in red and white, detailing an animalistic face with long, thin eyes, like a cat. Golden horns adorned the top, and as she drew closer Sophia could see that the wood was detailed with small whorls and lines. Across the forehead was a solid red circle, outlined in white and then surrounded in turn by a red diamond.

"Careful," Nogaku purred, and Sophia snatched her arm back, heaving deep breaths.

Nogaku was clad in a robe of faded blue and red, with thick gold patterns breaking the colours up. Her hood was blue, as well, and beneath it sat a pale white mask, lined in black. Glowing purple eyes peered out, wisps of similarly coloured mist seeping out from the corners. The Blood Moon's leader reached out delicate, gloved hands. She picked the mask up with care, gently turning it around to trace along one of the cheeks.

"I am very proud," she said, voice smooth and rich, "of my creations. And it pleases me that you are so clearly taken with this."

The mask was placed back down on the desk, facing Sophia again, and Nogaku gestured for Sophia to sit.

"It's got a master effect on it," she stated, if only because she wasn't sure what else to say. Nogaku gave a soft laugh.

"Is a man's desire for a beautiful woman a master effect? Does gold master the greedy? Is the need of the…," and here Nogaku leant forward, head tilting, "_impotent_ for self-determination merely a trick?"

Sophia stiffened in her seat, almost snarling a response back before she caught herself.

"What do you mean by impotent?" she asked instead, a growl in her tone.

"You desire change, Sophia Hess. Tell me, what do you think you have changed?"

"I…," the answer stuck in her throat. She knew the question was a trap, and her instincts were beginning to whisper that Nogaku did, in fact, know who she was.

"Hold on now," she said instead, "you asked me to come here. I think I should be the one asking questions."

Nogaku laughed, but Sophia could tell it wasn't mockingly.

"Go on then, ask away."

"Why did you invite me here?"

They both knew Sophia was stalling for time. The mask had thrown her completely, wiping all her thoughts away to be replaced only with consuming _need_.

"I believe that I can use you for my cause," Nogaku replied, "and, in turn, I believe I can help you achieve the change you want to see."

"That's very easy to say."

"You'll also be able to channel those violent urges of yours into something more productive. The PRT do keep you on such a short leash, don't they?"

Sophia jerked backwards, staring at the cape. Anger began to swirl in her chest and she pushed herself to her feet, palms on the desk.

"And you fucking broke into my house, knowing that? Of a _ward_? You're denser than a sack of bricks if you think that-."

She froze when Nogaku pulled her mask off.

"Isn't it odd," Taylor commented, red eyes boring into Sophia's own, "that single moments can change so much about a person?"

Sophia slumped back into her seat. Half of her was raging, urging her to launch herself over the desk and beat the shit out of the wimp. The other half was reminding her that Nogaku killed Stormtiger on her own and had enough documented powers that the PHO had nicknamed her Evil-Eidolon. A nervous laugh bubbled out between her lips.

"You think you're a big shot now then, Hebert? Kill a few Nazis, take over a third of the city, scare the shit out the PRT?"

Another laugh surfaced.

Taylor grinned back.

"Is this revenge then, for leaving you in that house? Makes sense now, though. All those masks."

Taylor's grin softened into a smile, and Sophia hated how understanding she looked.

"Don't fucking look at me like that! You don't know-"

"Don't I?" A neat eyebrow rose, and part of Sophia noticed how Hebert looked…more refined than she had before.

"I think that, out of everyone, we should know you best. What you hate, what you fear, what you need, and what you desire."

"We?" Sophia asked, glancing around.

"Honnari, sweet. Introduce yourself."

A swirl of reddish smoke appeared for a moment, then next to Hebert stood another cape.

Sophia felt her mouth dry. She hadn't considered before the kinds of guys she was interested in. Her hero life was always more important, or her track work, and honestly she didn't think she could date a non-cape anyway. Looking at Honnari, however, Sophia considered that maybe she had been looking in the wrong direction in the first place. Her eyes roamed, greedily, unaware that someone could have so many soft curves in all the right places.

The cape's dress was scandalously short, with a hint of skin tight shorts underneath, and-. Sophia blushed, immediately and deeply, deciding the only safe place was on the gently smiling face of Honnari's mask. Two smooth horns framed the complicated bun of red hair on the cape's head.

"S-stop mastering me so fucking much Hebert," Sophia said, strain in her voice, unable to tear her eyes away. Honnari giggled, a tinkling thing of glass and birds, as she moved to sit on the desk next to Sophia, one long leg crossed over the other.

"Honnari…"

"You're such a boor sometimes, Taylor."

A fine-boned hand reached up towards Honnari's mask, giving Sophia a glimpse of the long, bluish, dagger-like nails the cape had. A very familiar face was revealed.

"Emma?"

"I know, Soph, what a surprise. Beautiful, gorgeous me working for dorky Tayor? I think my talents are wasted on her too."

Sophia's laugh was less nervous this time and more incredulous.

"What the fuck Emma?"

"Taylor's being her normal mysterious self, so I'll put it plainly. You're being offered a mask of your own."

Sophia glanced at the mask still lying on the desk.

"It'll make you stronger, improve your powers, and you'll be one of the Blood Moon."

"What's the downside?" she asked, starting to scowl. Emma shrugged.

"Loyalty."

"For how long?"

"Don't be dull, Sophia, it doesn't suit you. You know the answer to that."

She blinked once, gaze darting between her best friend and ex-target.

"I'll need details."

Emma smiled wide, baring sharp teeth.


End file.
